Dec. 21, 2011
J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov
Josh Byerly
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
josh.byerly@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 11-423
NASA CONDUCTS ORION PARACHUTE TESTING FOR ORBITAL TEST FLIGHT
HOUSTON -- NASA successfully conducted a drop test of the Orion crew
vehicle's parachutes high above the Arizona desert Tuesday in
preparation for its orbital flight test in 2014. Orion will carry
astronauts deeper into space than ever before, provide emergency
abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and ensure a
safe re-entry and landing.
A C-130 plane dropped the Orion test article from an altitude of
25,000 feet above the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Grounds. Orion's
drogue chutes were deployed between 15,000 and 20,000 feet, followed
by the pilot parachutes, which then deployed two main landing
parachutes. This particular drop test examined how Orion would land
under two possible failure scenarios.
Orion's parachutes are designed to open in stages, which is called
reefing, to manage the stresses on the parachutes after they are
deployed. The reefing stages allow the parachutes to sequentially
open, first at 54 percent of the parachutes' full diameter, and then
at 73 percent. This test examined how the parachutes would perform if
the second part of the sequence was skipped.
The second scenario was a failure to deploy one of Orion's three main
parachutes, requiring the spacecraft to land with only two. Orion
landed on the desert floor at a speed of almost 33 feet per second,
which is the maximum designed touchdown speed of the spacecraft.
Since 2007, the Orion program has conducted a vigorous parachute air
and ground test program and provided the chutes for NASA's successful
pad abort test in 2010. Lessons learned from this experience have
improved Orion's parachute system.
For images of the drop test, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/mpcv/gallery/parachute_testing/orion_test_drop.html.
For more about Orion, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/orion
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